What`s New in Mastercam 2017
Transcription
What`s New in Mastercam 2017
WHAT'S NEW IN MASTERCAM 2017 April 2016 WHAT'S NEW IN MASTERCAM 2017 April 2016 Copyright © 2016 CNC Software, Inc. – All rights reserved. Software: Mastercam 2017 Terms of Use Use of this document is subject to the Mastercam End User License Agreement. A copy of the Mastercam End User License Agreement is included with the Mastercam product package of which this document is part. The Mastercam End User License Agreement can also be found at: http://www.mastercam.com/companyinfo/legal/LicenseAgreement.aspx Be sure you have the latest information! Information might have changed or been added since this document was published. The latest version of the document is installed with Mastercam or can be obtained from your local Reseller. A ReadMe file (ReadMe.PDF) – installed with each release – includes the latest information about Mastercam features and enhancements. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction 11 New Mastercam Look and Feel 11 Mastercam Documentation 15 Contact Us 16 Mastercam Resources 16 General Enhancements 19 Analyze Enhancements 19 Analyze Trimmed Spline 19 Analyze Dynamic Enhancements 20 Appearance Enhancements 21 Dimmed and No Hidden Wireframe View 21 Outline Shaded Support for Polygon Mesh/STL 22 Rendered Modes 23 Solid Edges in No Hidden Wireframe Mode 24 ATP Enhancements 24 Chain Sorting 24 Z Position 25 Automatic Support for GDT Data 25 iii Unigraphics/NX and STEP Files 25 CATIA Version 5 26 Code Expert Enhancements 27 Individual Fonts and Colors in NC Configuration 27 Tool Change Indicator 28 Character Encoding to Opened and Saved Text Based Files 30 Improve Communications Options for CIMCO 32 General Toolpath Enhancements 32 Drag and Drop Operations Import 32 Drill Point Selection 33 Ghosted Operations Support 33 Reverse Chains Order 34 Preventing Changes to Processing Toolpaths 34 Toolpath Transform Enhancements 36 Graphics Window Enhancements 38 Axes Display Enhancements 38 Interactive Gview Gnomon for Dynamic Planes 39 Updated Grid Functions 40 Levels Manager Enhancements 41 Column Reordering 42 Hide or Display Columns 43 iv Hide Level Properties 43 Mastercam Add-On Enhancements 44 STL Heal C-Hook 44 Support for OnShape Documents 44 Mastercam File Extensions 46 Mastercam Simulator Enhancements 47 Auto Start 47 Fixture Support Enhancements 48 Printing 48 Record Video 49 Reverse Direction for Clipping Planes 49 Synchronize Views 49 Printing Multiple Copies 50 Migration of Custom Machine Simulation Files 51 Multiple Instances Now Supported 51 Planes Manager Enhancements 52 Always Display Gnomon 53 Hide or Display Columns 53 Hide Planes Properties 54 New G Column to Set Gview in Planes Manager 54 New Follow Rule 54 v Origin Enhancements 55 Reorder Columns 56 Recent Functions 57 Setup Sheet Enhancements 58 New Setup Sheet XML Tags 58 Option to Clean Up XML Folder 58 Save Images in Nesting Reports 59 System Configuration Enhancements 59 Chaining Arrow Size Options 59 Get Defaults from Previous Operation 60 Import Sketch Data from SOLIDWORKS 61 New View Settings Page 63 Screen Page Enhancements 63 Set Tool Colors 65 Solid Preview Option 65 Viewsheet Enhancements 66 Create and Save Bookmarks from Planes 66 Delete Multiple Viewsheets 67 Removed the Concept of "Main" Viewsheet 67 Zip2Go Enhancements 67 Design Enhancements 69 vi Bounding Box Center Point 69 Drafting Enhancements 70 Drafting formatting 70 Edit text heights for both notes and dimensions 71 Plane Selection Enhancements 72 Solids Enhancements 73 Disassemble Enhancements 73 Keep Name After History is Removed 74 Optimize 74 Pick Solid Face Color 74 Preprocess Solid 75 Repair Small Faces 75 Solid Impression 76 Transform Enhancements 77 Transform Dynamic AutoCursor Support 77 Dynamic Gnomon Editing 79 Scale 81 Stretch 83 Wireframe Enhancements 84 User Interface Changes 84 Sharp Corner Smoothing Added to Spline From Curves 85 vii Break at Points 85 Point and Line Dynamic Split into Two Functions 85 Refit Spline 86 Relief Fillet Style 86 Untrim Spline 87 Persisting Values for Create Letters 87 Tool Enhancements 89 Add and Remove Manufacturers and Tool Grades 89 Custom Tool Display 90 High Feed Mill Tool Type 92 Import 3D STEP File 93 NCI Parameter for Tool Assembly Name 94 Overall Length 95 Similar Tool Warning 96 Thread Pitch 96 Tool List Enhancements 97 Column Display 97 Display Mode Setting 98 Tool Migration Warning 99 Tool Projection 100 Mill Enhancements 103 viii 2D Enhancements 103 Dynamic Mill Line of Sight 103 Modeless Chain Options and Chaining Dialog Box 104 Region Chaining Preview 104 Toolpath Preview 104 3D Enhancements 105 Maximum Stock Engagement 105 Optimized Raster Motion 106 Scallop Processing Time 107 Trim to Stock/Rest Material Page Changes 107 Multiaxis Enhancements 108 Angle Step Value 108 Multiaxis Drill 108 Interface Changes and Toolpath Consolidation 109 Point and Line Associativity 110 Point Sorting 110 Roughing Page Consolidation 111 Rotary Advanced 111 Stock Page Consolidation 112 Lathe Enhancements 113 Align Solid Body (Lathe) 113 ix Chip Break 114 Lathe Plane Enhancements 116 Display Mode 118 Lathe Stock Model Enhancements 119 TNRC Control for B-Axis Turning Operations 120 Mill-Turn Enhancements 121 Align Solid Body (Mill-Turn) 121 Application Guides in .machine Files 122 Job Setup Enhancements 122 Improved Handling of Position Changes 122 Improved Handling of Complex Part Geometry 122 Machine File Version Properties 123 Multi-Sessions and Multi-Machine Group Support 123 Multi-Station Tool Locators for Turrets 124 Reference Positions Enhancements 128 Allow Multiple Reference Return Locations 128 Add Optional Default Reference Position in POCO 128 View Control Options for Sync Manager x 128 What's New in Mastercam 2017 — Introduction INTRODUCTION Welcome to Mastercam 2017! Mastercam 2017 features new functionality focused on delivering speed and efficiency to your machining jobs. We are sure that you will benefit from what Mastercam 2017 has to offer you and your shop. New Mastercam Look and Feel Mastercam 2017 features a new ribbon interface, similar to the Microsoft Office products. The new interface capitalizes on your experience with other software, and uses that familiarity to make it easier to find the functions you need to complete your tasks. The ribbon tabs group similar functions and display them in order from simple to more complex. Each tab relates to a type of activity, from creating wireframe geometry to generating toolpaths. Editing functions are on the same tab as creation functions, so you have all the tools you need when you need them. The tabs also combine icons with text, making it easier to find the functions you need. The Machine tab includes all of your machine types. Selecting a machine type displays a contextual tab that lists available toolpaths and related functions. 11 What's New in Mastercam 2017 — Introduction You can search through toolpath galleries that show icons with sample tool motion to help you decide which toolpath to use. 12 What's New in Mastercam 2017 — Introduction Click File to access the Backstage view, which contains all of your file management tools. You can access information about your current part file, customize your Mastercam environment, learn more about Mastercam with the Help and tutorials, and connect with the Mastercam community. The Quick Access Toolbar contains a set of commands independent of the tab that is currently displayed. You can move the Quick Access Toolbar above or below the ribbon, and you can add or remove buttons as needed. 13 What's New in Mastercam 2017 — Introduction You can also right-click on a function in any of the tabs and add it to the Quick Access Toolbar by selecting Add to Quick Access Toolbar. Right-click in the graphics window for easy access to all your entity attributes with the new mini-toolbar. Select the popout button on the right side of the minitoobar to anchor the toolbar permanently on the screen. 14 What's New in Mastercam 2017 — Introduction In addition, all of the selection functions are featured in the graphics window so you can access them when you need to. Mastercam Documentation Mastercam installs the following documents in the \Documentation folder of your Mastercam 2017 installation: l What's New in Mastercam 2017 l Mastercam 2017 Installation Guide l Mastercam 2017 Administrator Guide 15 What's New in Mastercam 2017 — Introduction l Mastercam 2017 Transition Guide l Mastercam 2017 Quick Reference Card l Mastercam 2017 ReadMe Contact Us For questions about this or other Mastercam documentation, contact the Technical Documentation department by email at techdocs@mastercam.com. Mastercam Resources Enhance your Mastercam experience by using the following resources: l Mastercam Help— Access Mastercam Help by selecting Help, Contents from Mastercam's File tab. Also, most dialog boxes and function panels feature a Help button that opens Mastercam Help directly to related information. l Mastercam Reseller— Your local Mastercam Reseller can help with most questions about Mastercam. l Technical Support—CNC Software's Technical Support department (860- 875-5006 or support@mastercam.com) is open Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. USA Eastern Standard Time. l Mastercam Tutorials—CNC offers a series of tutorials to help registered users become familiar with basic Mastercam features and functions. The Mastercam tutorial series is in continual development, with new modules added as we complete them. Visit our website, or select Help, Tutorials from the File tab. l Mastercam University—CNC Software sponsors Mastercam University, an affordable online learning platform that gives you 24/7 access to Mastercam training materials. Take advantage of more than 180 videos to master your skills at your own pace and help prepare yourself for Mastercam Certification. For more information on Mastercam University, 16 What's New in Mastercam 2017 — Introduction please contact your Authorized Mastercam Reseller, visit www.mastercamu.com, or email training@mastercam.com. l Online communities—You can find a wealth of information including many videos, at www.mastercam.com. For tech tips and the latest Mastercam news, follow us on Facebook (www.facebook.com/mastercam), Twitter (www.twitter.com/mastercam), or Google+ (plus.google.com/+mastercam). Visit our YouTube channel to see Mastercam in action (www.youtube.com/user/MastercamCadCam)! Registered users can search for information or ask questions on the Mastercam Web forum, forum.mastercam.com, or use the knowledgebase at kb.mastercam.com. To register, select Community, Link on Mastercam.com from the File tab. 17 What's New in Mastercam 2017 — Introduction 18 What's New in Mastercam 2017 — General Enhancements GENERAL ENHANCEMENTS Analyze Enhancements Analyze Trimmed Spline Mastercam will now inform you if the selected spline is trimmed or not when using the Analyze Entity function, located on the Home tab. 19 What's New in Mastercam 2017 — General Enhancements Analyze Dynamic Enhancements The user interface for Analyze Dynamic has been improved for Mastercam 2017. 1. Diameter readout: Displays the diameter of an arc, face, or surface, making it easier for you to choose a maximum tool diameter for a curved area. 2. Color and RGB information: Displays the color and RGB information of the selected entity. This information can be used to communicate control tolerances and stock to leave. 20 What's New in Mastercam 2017 — General Enhancements 3. Arrow scale factor: To assist with debugging, you can now resize the dynamic arrow by applying a scale factor to it. The size of the default and rescaled arrows remain consistent even when you change the view scale of the graphics window. Scaling has replaced Vector information that was in previous versions of Analyze Dynamic. Appearance Enhancements Dimmed and No Hidden Wireframe View Dimmed and No Hidden Wireframe views now support solids, surfaces, and STL parts as shown in the following examples. Dimmed Wireframe (Surfaces) Dimmed Wireframe (Solids) No Hidden Wireframe (Surfaces) No Hidden Wireframe (Solids) 21 What's New in Mastercam 2017 — General Enhancements Outline Shaded Support for Polygon Mesh/STL The Outline Shaded effect can now be applied to polygon mesh entities, such as STL files, which improves the appearance of details. Shaded Outline Shaded You can also control this affect by using the Show STL edges option that has been added to the System Configuration - Shading page. When enabled, STL edges display in the Outline Shaded view; when the option is disabled, STL edges do not display. This option is enabled by default. The Edge angle tolerance option becomes available when the Show STL edges option is enabled. This value determines what is considered an edge on the STL entity. 22 What's New in Mastercam 2017 — General Enhancements Rendered Modes You can now view your solid and surface models as if they were Metallic, Plastic, or Glossy. Select one of these options on the View tab to change your part's appearance. Default Metallic Plastic Glossy 23 What's New in Mastercam 2017 — General Enhancements Solid Edges in No Hidden Wireframe Mode In previous Mastercam versions, you could select hidden edges when in No Hidden Wireframe view mode. In Mastercam 2017, you can no longer select hidden edges when in this mode. When working in Translucent mode, the edges will show and will be selectable. ATP Enhancements Chain Sorting You can now sort chains based on their area, length, or creation order. You can then sort them by either Ascending or Descending order. 24 What's New in Mastercam 2017 — General Enhancements Z Position Use the Translate top of part to Z zero option to move the top of the geometry to Z = 0. Automatic Support for GDT Data Unigraphics/NX and STEP Files Mastercam 2017 now supports saved views and 3D annotation data in imported Unigraphics/NX and STEP files. You no longer need to select the Import GDT data option to import annotated data from Unigraphics files. Mastercam automatically imports any saved views into Mastercam named planes. 25 What's New in Mastercam 2017 — General Enhancements CATIA Version 5 Support for saved views and annotation data requires the CATIA Version 5 translator with PMI license. 26 What's New in Mastercam 2017 — General Enhancements Code Expert Enhancements Individual Fonts and Colors in NC Configuration Fonts and colors can now be set for individual components within your NC Configuration. 27 What's New in Mastercam 2017 — General Enhancements Right-click and select the NC Configuration to apply it to a specific NC file. The Comments are now blue and bold as shown below. Tool Change Indicator The Mark option has been added to the Tools group of the NC Functions tab when an NC file is open in Code Expert. 28 What's New in Mastercam 2017 — General Enhancements Select this option to add an indicator to the margin of the NC file where tool changes appear as defined in the NC Configuration. 29 What's New in Mastercam 2017 — General Enhancements Character Encoding to Opened and Saved Text Based Files Non-English Mastercam users can now set default encoding to use in Code Expert when opening text files: A new option has also been added to the Home tab, allowing you to reopen the current file using a specified encoding. 30 What's New in Mastercam 2017 — General Enhancements By clicking Reload With Encoding, the Select Character Encoding dialog displays, and you can choose a different character encoding. Character Encoding also allows for proper character display: Mastercam X9 31 What's New in Mastercam 2017 — General Enhancements Mastercam 2017 Improve Communications Options for CIMCO In previous versions, users that communicate with their machines via CIMCO DNC through Code Expert were forced to set communications settings in the System Configurations dialog box. In Mastercam 2017, this process has been simplified by allowing access to the CIMCO DNC settings directly from the Code Expert interface. The settings are easily accessible by clicking the dialog box launcher in the Communications group in the NC Functions tab. General Toolpath Enhancements Drag and Drop Operations Import You can now drag and drop operation files directly into the Toolpaths Manager. When a supported operations file is dropped onto the Toolpaths Manager, the Import Toolpath Operations dialog box displays. The dropped file is automatically set as the source library. 32 What's New in Mastercam 2017 — General Enhancements Drill Point Selection Previously, Drill Point Selection only supported wireframe entities. Now, Drill Point Selection recognizes solid edges when you select the Entities option. Ghosted Operations Support Stock Model operations can now process ghosted operations. Select Process ghosted operations on the Source Operations page of a Stock Model operation to process them. Deselect this option to ignore ghosted operations. This option is useful when using Multiaxis Link or transform operations. 33 What's New in Mastercam 2017 — General Enhancements Reverse Chains Order You can now reverse the order of chains in the Chain Manager dialog box by selecting Reverse chains order from the right-click menu. Preventing Changes to Processing Toolpaths In previous versions, you were allowed to make changes to a toolpath operation while it was still processing in the Multi-Threading Manager. This could cause changes not to stick once the processing was finished. 34 What's New in Mastercam 2017 — General Enhancements In Mastercam 2017, a warning displays when you attempt to change the parameters, tool(s), geometry, or NCI while an operation is processing. You can still view the parameters or geometry, but the toolpath dialog box will be Read-only. 35 What's New in Mastercam 2017 — General Enhancements Toolpath Transform Enhancements Include WCS Plane names for Mirror, Rotate, and Translate transform types have been improved. When creating a transform toolpath by Tool plane, you can now include the WCS by selecting Include WCS in the Type and Methods tab of the Transform Operation Parameters dialog box. 36 What's New in Mastercam 2017 — General Enhancements Swap Lead in/Lead out Values When creating a Mirror transform operation, use the Swap lead in/out parameters option to swap the lead-in and lead-out values for the resulting toolpaths. 37 What's New in Mastercam 2017 — General Enhancements Graphics Window Enhancements Axes Display Enhancements Screen Info Renamed and Enhanced Screen Info [F9] has been renamed to Show Axes. The Show Axes function located on the View tab controls the display of World, WCS, Tplane, and Cplane axes separately. 38 What's New in Mastercam 2017 — General Enhancements WCS T/Cplane Axes Renamed and Enhanced The WCS T/Cplane axes [Alt+F9] command has been renamed to Show Gnomons. The Show Gnomons function located on the View tab controls the display of WCS, Tplane, and Cplane gnomons separately. Interactive Gview Gnomon for Dynamic Planes Dynamic plane creation can now be triggered by clicking the Gview gnomon as shown in the following sequence of illustrations. Move the mouse over the static Gview gnomon until it highlights. Click the origin ball to attach the mouse cursor and drag your cursor to initiate dynamic plane creation. 39 What's New in Mastercam 2017 — General Enhancements Updated Grid Functions The grid functions, Active Grid and Visible Grid, previously located on the Grid Settings dialog box have been renamed to Snap to Grid and Show Grid. These functions are now available on the View tab. 40 What's New in Mastercam 2017 — General Enhancements Levels Manager Enhancements The Levels Manager is now a dockable, floatable function panel and has been redesigned for more intuitive controls and easier workflow. The toolbar across the top of the Levels Manger includes the following functionality: l Add a New Level l Find a Level from Geometry 41 What's New in Mastercam 2017 — General Enhancements l Turn All Levels On/Off l Reset All Levels l Display Options l Hide properties Column Reordering You can reorder the columns in the Levels Manager by dragging the column heading. Column order is maintained from session to session. 42 What's New in Mastercam 2017 — General Enhancements Hide or Display Columns You can hide columns in the Levels Manager by right-clicking a column header and selecting a column. The Number column is always displayed. Hide Level Properties You can now hide the controls below the grid, such as Number, Name, and Level set. Use this control to maximize the space allotted to the grid, minimize the space used by the managers, or to stack the Levels and Planes Managers on top of one another. Click the button again to show the controls. 43 What's New in Mastercam 2017 — General Enhancements Mastercam Add-On Enhancements STL Heal C-Hook You can now enter a negative offset distance (and apply an inward offset), instead of only a positive offset distance. Support for OnShape Documents Mastercam has partnered with Onshape; a new, full-cloud 3D CAD system, and has developed Onshape Connect. Running from within Mastercam, Onshape Connect allows you to download Onshape elements from the cloud to your local or network drive. Supported file types, including Onshape Part Studios, can be imported directly into Mastercam. 44 What's New in Mastercam 2017 — General Enhancements Note: Onshape Connect is available from the Onshape App Store (https://appstore.onshape.com). You must have an Onshape account to use Onshape Connect. For more information, please visit www.onshape.com. 45 What's New in Mastercam 2017 — General Enhancements Mastercam File Extensions For Mastercam 2017, the following file extensions have been changed: Mastercam X9 Mastercam 2017 .mcx-9 .mcam .emcx-9 .emcam .operations-9 .mcam-operations .defaults-9 .mcam-defaults .mmd-9 .mcam-mmd .lmd-9 .mcam-lmd .rmd-9 .mcam-rmd .wmd-9 .mcam-wmd .gmd-9 .mcam-gmd .control-9 .mcam-control .materials-9 .mcam-materials 46 What's New in Mastercam 2017 — General Enhancements Mastercam Simulator Enhancements Auto Start The Enable Auto Start option has been added to the Options dialog box on the General page for Mastercam Simulator. When selected, Mastercam Simulator will immediately begin to play once a sufficient amount of data has been transferred. 47 What's New in Mastercam 2017 — General Enhancements Fixture Support Enhancements Fixture support, which was previously added with Mastercam X9, has been improved. You can now select a solid, multiple levels, or browse for a file to be used as a fixture. Printing You can now directly print from Mastercam Simulator by selecting File, Print. You will print the current active window view, which is displayed with a red border. 48 What's New in Mastercam 2017 — General Enhancements Record Video You can now save a video of a backplot or verification session from Mastercam Simulator in a common format (.mp4) that can be viewed by anyone with or without Mastercam on their machines. Click Record in the Home tab to begin recording a video. Once you have finished, click Record again to stop recording. You then save the recording and you can distribute as needed. Reverse Direction for Clipping Planes You can now reverse the direction of clipping planes when using them in Mastercam Simulator. Synchronize Views You can now link your view in Mastercam to your view in Mastercam Simulator so if you rotate your part in one, the other will update. You can turn this option on or off in the View tab of Mastercam Simulator. 49 What's New in Mastercam 2017 — General Enhancements Printing Multiple Copies You can now print multiple copies using the Copies option, located on the File, Print page. 50 What's New in Mastercam 2017 — General Enhancements Migration of Custom Machine Simulation Files The Migration Wizard now supports the migration of custom machine simulation files. The Machine simulation option has been added to the wizard and includes the STL, GIF, and BMP files that create the machine model. Multiple Instances Now Supported When opening an additional instance of Mastercam, you no longer get the warning shown below. You can now open additional instances of Mastercam without instability or data loss. 51 What's New in Mastercam 2017 — General Enhancements Planes Manager Enhancements The Planes Manager is now a dockable, floatable function panel and has been redesigned for more intuitive controls and easier workflow. The toolbar across the top of the Planes Manager includes the following functionality: l Create a new plane (from Geometry, Solid Face, Gview, Line Normal, Rel- ative to WCS, and Dynamic) l Select a lathe plane (radius X/Z or diameter/Z coordinates) 52 What's New in Mastercam 2017 — General Enhancements l Find a plane (From Geometry, Plane, or Relative to WCS) l Set/Reset your current WCS, construction plane, and tool plane with ori- gins l Display Options l Follow rules l Hide properties Always Display Gnomon In previous versions of Mastercam, the gnomon for the active plane was only displayed when the Planes Manager had focus. Now, you can set the gnomon for the active plane to always display. Hide or Display Columns You can hide or display columns in the Planes Manager by right-clicking a column header and selecting a column. 53 What's New in Mastercam 2017 — General Enhancements Hide Planes Properties You can now hide the controls below the grid, such as Work offset, Color, and Comment. Use this control to maximize the space allotted to the grid, minimize the space used by the managers, or to stack the Levels and Planes Managers on top of one another. Click the button again to show the controls. New G Column to Set Gview in Planes Manager A column has been added to the Planes Manager. Click in the G column to change the Gview to that plane. New Follow Rule A follow rule has been added, Tplane follows Cplane. The follow rule is selected by default, but the state persists from session to session. With this follow rule selected, the Tplane will change if the Cplane is changed by the user or as a result of another follow rule, such as Cplane follows Gview. The Tplane can still be changed independently from the Cplane. 54 What's New in Mastercam 2017 — General Enhancements Origin Enhancements Previously, the Planes Manager displayed origin values in view coordinates. Now, the origin values display in world coordinates. The origin values also display in the Planes (WCS) page of tree-style toolpaths and the Plane Selection dialog box. 55 What's New in Mastercam 2017 — General Enhancements The Origin fields will also display a simplified right-click menu that is more appropriate for picking plane origin XYZ points. This applies to any parameter where you use the right-click menu to set origin values. Reorder Columns You can now reorder columns in the Planes Manager by dragging and dropping the column headers. Column order is maintained from session to session. 56 What's New in Mastercam 2017 — General Enhancements Recent Functions The Most Recently Used functions toolbar has been renamed to Recent Functions and is now a dockable, floatable function panel. Recent Functions allows you to see a history of the Mastercam functions you recently used and quickly reselect them. 57 What's New in Mastercam 2017 — General Enhancements Setup Sheet Enhancements New Setup Sheet XML Tags New XML tags have been added to the setup sheet, such as tool and holder location, machine type, machine name, and post processor file name. Option to Clean Up XML Folder An option has been added that deletes all XMP and BMP files automatically created at run time during your previous setup sheet sessions. Use this to help you maintain disk space. After you click the Clean button in the Setup Sheet dialog box, the system informs you of the number of files about to be deleted and prompts you to accept the cleanup or not. This option is only available if you have previously run the setup sheet function. 58 What's New in Mastercam 2017 — General Enhancements Save Images in Nesting Reports An option has been added to create nesting reports with high resolution images. Select Higher resolution images in reports in the Nesting Configuration dialog box to increase the images of sheets and results to a maximum of 2400 pixels and parts to a maximum of 1200 pixels. The orientation determines whether the maximum size will be applied to the length or width. System Configuration Enhancements Chaining Arrow Size Options You can now change the size and translucency of 3D chaining arrows to make them more usable when a file has numerous chains in a window (for example, when chaining text for engraving). 59 What's New in Mastercam 2017 — General Enhancements If arrows in the graphics window overlap or obscure other arrowheads, you can set the arrow size to Small, Medium, or Large. Change the arrows from opaque to translucent by selecting the Translucent checkbox. These options are located on the Chaining page. Get Defaults from Previous Operation The Get defaults from previous operation option, located on the Toolpaths page, allows a newly created operation to pull defaults from the previous operation of the same type. If no compatible operation is found, the parameters are pulled from the defaults library. This option is on by default. This functionality was previously delivered via the PrmDef C-Hook, which has been removed from the Mastercam installation. 60 What's New in Mastercam 2017 — General Enhancements When disabled, new operation parameters are pulled from the defaults library. Import Sketch Data from SOLIDWORKS You now have the ability to import sketch data from a SOLIDWORKS file. You can automatically include this information by selecting the Import sketches from SOLIDWORKS files option located on the Converters page of the System Configuration dialog box. 61 What's New in Mastercam 2017 — General Enhancements You can also import this information from SOLIDWORKS files as you open them by selecting the Import Sketches option from the SOLIDWORKS File Parameters dialog box. The File Parameters dialog box displays when you select the Options button on the Open dialog box. You must have a seat of SOLIDWORKS to import sketch data into Mastercam. 62 What's New in Mastercam 2017 — General Enhancements New View Settings Page The View Settings page, under the Screen page, has been added to the System Configuration dialog box. This page contains options that previously resided on the Screen page. The Snap to views in dynamic rotation setting has been added. Select this option to have your part automatically snap to views during dynamic rotation. The rotated part snaps to a view within the tolerance (in degrees) you set. Screen Page Enhancements The Screen page has been updated as follows: l The Display toolpaths option displays the toolpaths when selected and hides toolpaths when deselected. l The Use stipple on solids/surfaces option displays the stipple overlay effect on auto-highlighted or selected surfaces and removes the stipple overlay effect when deselected. 63 What's New in Mastercam 2017 — General Enhancements l The Display part information option has been removed in favor of the new Show Axes toggle on the View tab. l The Display viewport XYZ axes option has been removed in favor of the new Show Gnomons toggle on the View tab. You can also change the size of gnomons, gnomon labels, on-screen text, and the scale indicator with the Scale display gnomons and text option. Use the Selection controls opacity slider to adjust the display of the Selection Bar and Quick Mask controls. These options are especially helpful when using a 4K monitor. 64 What's New in Mastercam 2017 — General Enhancements Set Tool Colors You can now set colors for different sections of a tool on the Colors page. These settings control how the tool displays in the Tool Wizard. Solid Preview Option You can now turn the auto-preview off or on for all history-based solids. The Set solid preview on by default option is located on the Solids page. 65 What's New in Mastercam 2017 — General Enhancements Viewsheet Enhancements Create and Save Bookmarks from Planes Two options have been added to the Dynamic Plane and New Plane dialog boxes. Select Create Viewsheet to automatically save a viewsheet with the name of the plane upon exiting the dialog box. When Create Viewsheet is enabled, the Save Bookmark option becomes available, which saves a bookmark on the newly created viewsheet. 66 What's New in Mastercam 2017 — General Enhancements Delete Multiple Viewsheets You can now select multiple viewsheets and delete them or their bookmarks. To do so, hold down the [Ctrl] key while selecting the viewsheets, then right-click and select Delete Viewsheet or Delete Viewsheet Bookmark from the menu. Removed the Concept of "Main" Viewsheet Viewsheets are now less restricted, as there is no longer a "main" viewsheet. You now have the ability to bookmark any viewsheet and reorganize the order of viewsheets as needed. However, you cannot delete the last remaining viewsheet as there must always be at least one active viewsheet. Zip2Go Enhancements The Zip2Go enhancements include the following: l You can open a Zip2Go (.z2g) file by dragging and dropping the file onto the graphics window. l The Configure menu selection has been renamed to Options and is found in the File menu. Selecting Options opens the Options dialog box where you can alter file and folder settings. 67 What's New in Mastercam 2017 — General Enhancements 68 What's New in Mastercam 2017 — Design Enhancements DESIGN ENHANCEMENTS Bounding Box Center Point In addition to creating a point at the center of the bounding box, the Center point option now creates geometry on each flat face of the bounding box. This change only applies to rectangular bounding boxes. On a cylindrical bounding box, the Points option creates a point at the center of two flat faces of the cylinder and the Center point option creates a point at the center. 69 What's New in Mastercam 2017 — Design Enhancements Drafting Enhancements Drafting formatting You can now apply the format of an existing dimension to a new dimension by pressing the tilde key [~] and selecting the existing dimension text. 70 What's New in Mastercam 2017 — Design Enhancements Edit text heights for both notes and dimensions The Apply to dimensions and notes option has been added to the Height dialog box, accessed by selecting Height on the Basic tab of the Drafting function panel. This allows you to change both dimension and note heights at the same time. 71 What's New in Mastercam 2017 — Design Enhancements Plane Selection Enhancements The X, Y, and Z options in the Plane Selection dialog box have been enhanced to increase functionality, accuracy, and efficiency. 1. Added spin controls. 2. Added Select point button. Use this button to select an AutoCursor position from the graphics window. The appropriate X, Y, and Z value of that position will be entered into the corresponding field. 3. Added the Construction depth button. Use this button to copy the current Z depth value into the X, Y, or Z fields. 72 What's New in Mastercam 2017 — Design Enhancements Solids Enhancements Disassemble Enhancements The user interface for Disassemble has been improved to better support your designing practices. Placement Options The checkbox for Automatically place bodies has been replaced with three radio buttons. 73 What's New in Mastercam 2017 — Design Enhancements In addition to the Automatic and Manual options, you can now place disassembled bodies at the origin of the Layout level. Bodies placed at the origin through this option can be placed at any level, but the levels can only be incremented by solid bodies and not by thickness. Undo Undo is now applied to all solid bodies instead of one solid body at a time. Viewsheet Support Select the Create viewsheets for each level checkbox to create a viewsheet for bodies on each level. The resulting bodies are moved or copied to a new viewsheet and bookmarked with the new level. Keep Name After History is Removed The names of solid bodies are maintained after their history has been removed. Optimize Optimize, located under the Simplify Solid drop-down in the Modify group of the Model Prep tab, automatically repairs imported solids (whole bodies or individual faces) by improving the accuracy of edges and by identifying and optimizing blends. Toolpaths on the repaired solid maintain associativity to faces. Pick Solid Face Color You can now obtain a color number during the Change Face or Set Feature function by clicking the Select button in the Colors dialog box and selecting the solid face. 74 What's New in Mastercam 2017 — Design Enhancements Preprocess Solid The Surface From Solids function, located on the Surfaces tab, now includes a Preprocess solid option that can assist in the conversion of solid faces into surfaces. Mastercam makes a copy of the body, prepares it, and then creates surfaces from this body. After the conversion, Mastercam deletes the preprocessed body, leaving the original intact. Repair Small Faces Repair Small Faces analyzes solid bodies (with no history) and reports if it finds small entities such as spikes, sliver faces, edge pinches, and gashes. If the function finds these issues, it gives you the option to repair the solid. 75 What's New in Mastercam 2017 — Design Enhancements Solid Impression Solid Impression is a function that automates the creation of an electrode tool without having to create an extrusion and Boolean operation. Solid Impression produces a negative impression of a selected closed body. To create the impression, select a planar wireframe chain. The function then projects the chain to the solid body. The depth of the projection is from the wireframe chain to the lowest face of the selected solid or to a selected face. 76 What's New in Mastercam 2017 — Design Enhancements Transform Enhancements Transform Dynamic AutoCursor Support Transform Dynamic now supports AutoCursor snapping to horizontal, vertical, and tangent positions when rotating geometry. These options are only available when the plane equals the Cplane. To use these options, select the geometry you wish to transform, then right-click, and select AutoCursor to open the AutoCursor Settings dialog box. Select Tangent or Horizontal/Vertical to activate the snap options. Rotate the selected geometry, and it will snap horizontal, vertical, or tangent to another entity as shown below. 77 What's New in Mastercam 2017 — Design Enhancements Snap to tangent Snap to horizontal 78 What's New in Mastercam 2017 — Design Enhancements Snap to vertical Dynamic Gnomon Editing The Dynamic Gnomon includes a button that switches between editing the geometry and editing the gnomon positions when using Translate. Gnomon mode Geometry mode 79 What's New in Mastercam 2017 — Design Enhancements Translating an entity using the Geometry mode: Editing the gnomon position using Gnomon mode: 80 What's New in Mastercam 2017 — Design Enhancements Scale Scale now includes an Auto center option and a scale calculator. Auto center moves the center of the scaling function to the center of the selected geometry. When the option is deselected, the center of scaling returns to the default (0,0,0). 81 What's New in Mastercam 2017 — Design Enhancements The Scale Calculator dialog box calculates a scaling factor. You choose a Base value and a Result value. The calculator then divides the result by the base to get the Scale factor. For example, you can enter a Base of 3.4 and a Result of 5, it automatically calculates the Scale factor of 1.47. You can also select geometry to define your Base and Result. Select a circle that needs to be scaled to match another circle, and Mastercam will do the calculations for you. 82 What's New in Mastercam 2017 — Design Enhancements Stretch You can now dynamically stretch geometry with Mastercam's single-axis arrow control. Window select the entities to transform, then move the individual arrows in the graphics window to stretch along the X, Y, or Z axis. 83 What's New in Mastercam 2017 — Design Enhancements Wireframe Enhancements User Interface Changes Most functions that previously used the horizontal ribbon bar have been moved to a function panel for Mastercam 2017. The interface for these functions has the same look and feel as the Solids interface, allowing you to work in the function panel and in the graphics window simultaneously. 84 What's New in Mastercam 2017 — Design Enhancements Sharp Corner Smoothing Added to Spline From Curves The Sharp Corner Smoothing option has been added to the Spline From Curves function. Sharp corner smoothing blends in a new spline segment based on the Blend distance. Break at Points This function, located on the Wireframe tab under Trim Break Extend, allows you to break geometry at selected points that lie on it. Point and Line Dynamic Split into Two Functions The Point and Line Dynamic function have been split into two separate functions, Point Dynamic and Line Normal. Use the Point Dynamic function to create points on wireframe entities, surfaces, and solids. Use the Line Normal function to create lines perpendicular to any existing surface or solid face. 85 What's New in Mastercam 2017 — Design Enhancements Refit Spline Use this function to remake poorly defined splines that have too many nodes or sharp corners at nodes. Refit Spline creates a smoother spline with fewer, more consistently spaced nodes. Sharp corners are automatically detected and blended for smoother results. You can adjust the corner angle identified for smoothing by changing the value in the Detection angle field Relief Fillet Style The Relief option has been added to the Fillet Entities function. This allows you to put clearance on only one entity. This is useful when the outside faces of the tenon do not hide the current clearance fillet. 86 What's New in Mastercam 2017 — Design Enhancements Untrim Spline Untrim Spline, which was a C-Hook in previous versions of Mastercam, is now a function on the Wireframe tab. Use this function to untrim all selected splines and NURBS curves to their original extents. Untrim Spline reverses the effect of earlier trim operations. Persisting Values for Create Letters The values that you enter for height and spacing in the Create Letters function will now persist between sessions. 87 What's New in Mastercam 2017 — Design Enhancements 88 What's New in Mastercam 2017 — Tool Enhancements TOOL ENHANCEMENTS Add and Remove Manufacturers and Tool Grades You can now add manufacturers and tool grades to a library during tool creation and tool editing from both the Wizard-style dialog boxes and from the property grid in the stand-alone Tool Manager. Click the green plus button next to Manufacturer name or Tool Grade to add a new name. 89 What's New in Mastercam 2017 — Tool Enhancements Expand the drop-down lists for Manufacturer name and Tool Grade to select names that have already been added. Use the buttons to the right of the name to edit or remove it from the list. Custom Tool Display Mastercam offers the ability to define a tool using parametric properties along with a custom profile that can be imported from a CAD file. The parametric values are used within the toolpath calculations for improved performance, especially for 90 What's New in Mastercam 2017 — Tool Enhancements complex milling operations. The optional custom profile, when provided, is used for stock model generation and collision checking in simulation. You can now display both profiles for comparison. The default behavior is to render the custom profile as a 3D shaded tool and overlay the parametric profile using a dotted line-style. Render Mastercam Tool Render Imported Tool To render the parametric tool and overlay the custom profile, select the desired option shown below. 91 What's New in Mastercam 2017 — Tool Enhancements High Feed Mill Tool Type Mastercam now supports the High Feed Mill tool type. If the parametric definition does not meet your needs, or if the manufacturer provides profile data in the form of a 2D CAD file, use import option to define a custom High Feed Mill tool. 92 What's New in Mastercam 2017 — Tool Enhancements Import 3D STEP File You can now import STEP models to generate custom tool or holder definitions. Select the Import and link to custom geometry from a file to select a STEP file to import. 93 What's New in Mastercam 2017 — Tool Enhancements NCI Parameter for Tool Assembly Name The 20020 NCI line now contains the name of the holder and the 20021 NCI line now contains the name of the assembly. These parameters can be accessed by the post processor or any other client of the ASCII NCI file, including .SET files. 94 What's New in Mastercam 2017 — Tool Enhancements Overall Length The total length of the holder is now displayed in the upper left-hand corner of the graphics view when creating a holder with the Holder Wizard. 95 What's New in Mastercam 2017 — Tool Enhancements Similar Tool Warning You can now choose to no longer display this dialog box when adding similar tools. This option only applies per Mastercam session. Thread Pitch You can now override the thread pitch when working with single point thread mills for a Thread Mill toolpath. 96 What's New in Mastercam 2017 — Tool Enhancements On the Cut Parameters page of a Thread Mill toolpath: l The Number of active teeth parameter is disabled if the selected tool is a thread mill. l The Thread pitch parameter is disabled if the selected tool is a thread mill and if the Number of active teeth is greater than one. l In all other cases, both fields are enabled. Tool List Enhancements Column Display You can now right-click in the column header on any tool list to hide or display columns. 97 What's New in Mastercam 2017 — Tool Enhancements Display Mode Setting Mastercam now retains your setting for Display mode in all tool lists that offer the option of showing Tools, Assemblies, or Both. These settings are saved separately for each list and will persist between sessions. 98 What's New in Mastercam 2017 — Tool Enhancements Tool Migration Warning Mastercam's Classic Tool Manager can open and read older file formats when selecting tools from a library. However, if you make a change to a library Mastercam displays a warning that you can no longer open that file in a previous version of Mastercam. 99 What's New in Mastercam 2017 — Tool Enhancements Tool Projection You can now display your tool assembly in the graphics window and make edits to it. Right-click on a tool in the Classic Mastercam Tool Manager, in the Tool page of tree-style toolpaths, or the Toolpath parameters tab in tab-style toolpaths and select Edit projection. 100 What's New in Mastercam 2017 — Tool Enhancements This allows you to see what the tool assembly will look like against the part you are machining. You can position it anywhere in the graphics window by clicking the projection and then clicking where you would like to place it. 101 What's New in Mastercam 2017 — Tool Enhancements To edit the assembly, simply select the assembly and then either enter a value or use the ruler to drag it up or down to a specified length. In the Planes Manager, you can also change the Tplane and the tool will change accordingly. 102 What's New in Mastercam 2017 — Mill Enhancements MILL ENHANCEMENTS 2D Enhancements Dynamic Mill Line of Sight Micro lifts in the Dynamic Mill toolpath now use a line-of-sight approach to move the tool where it needs to go through unobstructed areas. Listed below are some of the improvements made through these changes: l Results in reposition moves during micro lifting that are more efficient, less complex, and travel a shorter distance l Creates less motion, which creates smaller NC file sizes l Improves the cycle times at the machine Mastercam X9 Mastercam 2017 103 What's New in Mastercam 2017 — Mill Enhancements Modeless Chain Options and Chaining Dialog Box While the Chain Options or Chaining dialog box is open, you can manipulate the graphics window view while selecting your chains. Region Chaining Preview You can now preview your machining regions, air regions, and containment regions for Dynamic Mill and Area Mill toolpaths. After selecting your chains, click the Preview chains button to view them in the graphics window. You can also change the color of the display chains to help you identify which is an air region, a machining region, and a containment region. These colors can be changed in the Colors page of the System Configuration dialog box or through the Colors button on the Chain Options dialog box. Toolpath Preview You can now preview the following 2D High Speed toolpaths in the graphics window before closing and generating or regenerating the toolpath. l Dynamic Mill l Area Mill l Dynamic Contour 104 What's New in Mastercam 2017 — Mill Enhancements l Peel Mill l Blend Mill Click the Preview button in the top left corner to enable or disable the preview. You must have a tool assigned to the toolpath or the preview will not display. 3D Enhancements Maximum Stock Engagement The Maximum Stock Engagement option on the Stock page for 3D HST Finishing toolpaths (with the exception of Horizontal Area and Pencil toolpaths) allows you to select a previously made stock model and set the maximum depth so that you can limit how deeply the cutter engages uncut material. This is particularly useful when semi-finishing a part. 105 What's New in Mastercam 2017 — Mill Enhancements Optimized Raster Motion The Perpendicular fill option on the Cut Parameters page for HST Raster allows you to limit raster passes relative to a cutoff distance of 1.4 times the Stepover, and then fills in the limited area with perpendicular raster motion to create a clean result. Perpendicular fill off Perpendicular fill on 106 What's New in Mastercam 2017 — Mill Enhancements Scallop Processing Time The processing time for 3D HST Scallop has been decreased to allow for quicker toolpath regeneration. Trim to Stock/Rest Material Page Changes In an effort to consolidate, the Trim to Stock and Rest Material pages have been renamed to Stock and moved higher up in the toolpath tree display. In addition, the Stock to leave on Walls and Floors options have been removed from the Cut Parameters page and placed on their own page, called Stock to leave, located under the Stock page. 107 What's New in Mastercam 2017 — Mill Enhancements Multiaxis Enhancements Angle Step Value You can now specify the Angle Step value on the Safety Zone page, which was previously always set to 2 degrees. Multiaxis Drill Multiaxis Drill has some new features, including: l Using a line length for the drill depth. l Association to selected geometry, removing the need for the geometry to be visible. l Recognition of the stock model for depth and top of stock purposes. l Selection of holes in solids using hole-axis functionality. l Linking values relative to selected points, lines, or holes. 108 What's New in Mastercam 2017 — Mill Enhancements Interface Changes and Toolpath Consolidation The Multiaxis toolpaths have been consolidated to reduce confusion and the overwhelming amount of toolpath options available. The following toolpaths have been consolidated or have been renamed: Mastercam X9 Mastercam 2017 Morph between 2 curves Morph Morph between 2 surfaces Parallel to multiple curves Parallel to surfaces Parallel Parallel cuts Cuts Along Curve Along Curve MSurf MultiSurface The following toolpaths have been removed: l Cavity Tilt Curve l Cavity collision control Curve l Projection l Impeller Blade Swarf Finishing l Impeller Floor Surface l Impeller Floor Surface without Tilt Curve l Blade root machining l Electrode machining 4+1 Axis The toolpaths are now grouped by either a Pattern or Application toolpath type. Pattern toolpaths are general toolpaths that can be used in a variety of ways to 109 What's New in Mastercam 2017 — Mill Enhancements manufacture your part. Application toolpaths are designed to solve particular machining problems while automating some of the processes. Mastercam X9 Mastercam 2017 Point and Line Associativity Point and lines selected for tool axis control will now be associated with the toolpaths in which they are used. The Point, Line, and Advanced Options subbranches have been removed when selecting these entities. Point Sorting Point sorting is now available for Multiaxis Drill and Circle Mill toolpaths. Select Sorting from the Drill Point Selection dialog box to access the sorting controls. You may also change the sorting options through the toolpath's parameters. The same sorting options used in 2D/3D toolpaths are now available in select Multiaxis toolpaths. 110 What's New in Mastercam 2017 — Mill Enhancements Roughing Page Consolidation The Roughing page has been condensed so all common options are available on a single page. Depth cuts, multi passes, morph pocket, and sorting can now be found on the Roughing page. Rotary Advanced Mastercam's Multiaxis package now includes a new 4-axis toolpath - Rotary Advanced. This powerful toolpath allows more control over the tool motion through the selection of walls, hubs, and shroud surfaces. Define your stock, select your part geometry, set collision control options, and adjust linking moves to quickly create motion on complex parts. Rough or Finish your rotary 4-axis using Rotary Advanced. 111 What's New in Mastercam 2017 — Mill Enhancements Stock Page Consolidation The various ways of selecting stock have been updated to have consistent workflow and selection methods. The Trim to Stock, Rest Material, and Stock definition pages have been renamed to the Stock page. An icon now displays if Stock is turned on or off, similar to 3-axis toolpaths. In the Stock page, you can now select the Job Setup option to use stock already defined in the Machine Group Properties dialog box. 112 What's New in Mastercam 2017 — Lathe Enhancements LATHE ENHANCEMENTS Align Solid Body (Lathe) This function has been added to Lathe which simplifies the process of aligning solid models for turning. It has also been added to Mill-Turn ("Align Solid Body (Mill-Turn)" on page 121). You define the center of the rotation for the part and select the appropriate geometry. Mastercam will then rotate to an Isometric view, where you can use the dynamic gnomon to adjust the origin. You can then create a WCS, leaving the part where it exists in space, or you can transform the part to a plane you select. 113 What's New in Mastercam 2017 — Lathe Enhancements This function is found on the Lathe Turning contextual tab, shown below. Chip Break A new option and dialog box has been added to the Lathe Rough and Lathe Contour Rough toolpaths to establish when chip breaks occur. It is located on the Rough parameters and Contour rough parameters tabs, respectively. Select the checkbox and click Chip Break to open the dialog box. 114 What's New in Mastercam 2017 — Lathe Enhancements This is valuable when working with stringy materials, such as aluminum or plastic, and allows you to set length and time conditions, retract, and dwell options. Chip Break Off Chip Break On 115 What's New in Mastercam 2017 — Lathe Enhancements Lathe Plane Enhancements The process of selecting the tool plane, origin, and display mode has been simplified in Lathe operations. The Coordinates button, which appeared on the Toolpath parameters tab, has been removed and all functionality has been moved to the Axis Combination/Spindle Origin dialog box. Mastercam X9 Mastercam 2017 116 What's New in Mastercam 2017 — Lathe Enhancements The new Axis Combination / Spindle Origin dialog box filters available tool planes, displaying only those planes with the correct orientation for the selected axis combination. 117 What's New in Mastercam 2017 — Lathe Enhancements You can also right-click in the Spindle Origin list to create a new tool plane or rename a tool plane. Display Mode Mastercam includes Lathe construction planes that let you work in radius or diameter coordinates. The construction plane affects the drawing mode for geometry creation. The construction plane also affects the display mode, altering the input fields for items such as Home Position and Reference Points. An option has been added to the Axis Combination / Spindle Origin dialog box, which allows you to quickly and easily determine if data should be entered diametrically or radially when a given plane is used in an operation. 118 What's New in Mastercam 2017 — Lathe Enhancements The active construction plane is used to determine the default setting for the Display Mode when the first Lathe toolpath is created. If the plane is set to one of the diametric Lathe planes, the setting in the Axis Combination / Spindle Origin dialog box will match. Previous Mastercam version files will retain the settings used in the respective planes used in lathe operations. This can then be used to modify the Display Mode. Lathe Stock Model Enhancements Lathe Stock Model operations now allow you to manipulate the Lathe stock boundary using Mill operations. The Lathe operation option allows you to select a previous Lathe operation as the source of the stock shape by reading the stock boundary contained in it. The Create stock boundary option lets you create a new Lathe stock boundary using the spun profile of the stock model. 119 What's New in Mastercam 2017 — Lathe Enhancements TNRC Control for B-Axis Turning Operations The Tool Angle dialog box contains new options, which were previously only available for Mill-Turn operations. Select the Tool Angle button on the Toolpath parameters page to open this dialog box. These options tell Mastercam which quadrant you used to touch off your tool. If you are creating a toolpath and the tool's control point is not where you want, you can use these options to swap it. Select the Manually define the cutting direction checkbox and choose the option that matches how the tool was touched off on the machine. 120 What's New in Mastercam 2017 — Mill-Turn Enhancements MILL-TURN ENHANCEMENTS Align Solid Body (Mill-Turn) The Align Solid Body function, which was added for Lathe ("Align Solid Body (Lathe)" on page 113), is also available for Mill-Turn. This function has been added as part of the Job Setup process, simplifying the setting of the WCS when off-axis work pieces are encountered. This function also appears on the Mill-Turn Turning contextual tab, allowing for the manipulation of other solids following the Job Setup process. 121 What's New in Mastercam 2017 — Mill-Turn Enhancements Application Guides in .machine Files Every Mill-Turn machine solution includes a comprehensive application guide which documents machine-specific information on setting up tools, token settings, and other valuable information. The application guides are provided in PDF format and are part of the .machine file. Select Machine Application Guide on the Home tab in Code Expert to launch an application guide specific to your current machine. Job Setup Enhancements Improved Handling of Position Changes Changes to values such as Part Stickout, Pickoff Position, or Jaw Dimensions no longer result in associated geometry being deleted and recreated. All geometry associated with Job Setup and operations in the Machine Group will now be moved to their new location when the operations are regenerated. Improved Handling of Complex Part Geometry Job Setup now uses a process similar to Transform, where the selected part geometry and turn profile are created when the Job Setup process is completed. While it is processing, Job Setup uses a wireframe representation. This results in improved performance. 122 What's New in Mastercam 2017 — Mill-Turn Enhancements Machine File Version Properties We have added version information into Mill-Turn machine files (set by machine developers). This information is now accessible through the File properties in Windows. Multi-Sessions and Multi-Machine Group Support Mastercam Mill-Turn now supports multiple sessions and multiple Machine Groups. Each Mill-Turn Machine Group will be matched with a unique session of Code Expert and Simulation. 123 What's New in Mastercam 2017 — Mill-Turn Enhancements Multi-Station Tool Locators for Turrets Mill-Turn now supports multi-station tool locators for turrets, as well as half index positions. Tool locator positions are set in the turret setup which has been redesigned. Enter information for index positions, mounting locations, and several other options, including if half index locations exist. 124 What's New in Mastercam 2017 — Mill-Turn Enhancements The tool locator components are now able to be mounted on available attachment positions. Options are available to define individual stations within the tool locator. A field for projection adjustment is also provided. 125 What's New in Mastercam 2017 — Mill-Turn Enhancements The Tool Setup Manager has been redesigned to improve workflow and ease of use: l The Filter group streamlines the items listed, reducing clutter. l Tooltips have been added to the tool locator components, providing easy access to information. l Edit a tool within the Tool Setup Manager by selecting Edit Tool from the right-click menu. l Mountable index positions have been added to the Machine tooling setup, representing available locators and stations where tools can be loaded. Use the Remove and reload all tools button to do this for you automatically. 126 What's New in Mastercam 2017 — Mill-Turn Enhancements l Drag and drop loaded tools between stations, allowing for quick and easy location changes. l Use the right-click menu in the display list to view the components in the graphics view. Tool Setup Manager communicates directly to Machine Simulator, allowing you to see your tool locators, stations, and mounted tools. 127 What's New in Mastercam 2017 — Mill-Turn Enhancements Reference Positions Enhancements Allow Multiple Reference Return Locations Mastercam Mill-Turn now supports multiple reference return locations for machines such as the Okuma Multus, which allow the user to utilize up to eight different reference return locations. When multiple reference return locations are available, one can be selected as the default for use in each stream of output. We have also added the ability to define a string for output in the NC code, allowing for localization for the reference position name without changing the output in the NC file. Add Optional Default Reference Position in POCO Mastercam Mill-Turn Pickoff and Cutoff (POCO) processes now support default reference positions for use in the transfer process. This functionality is useful for machines where the default reference return location may not be usable once the pickoff spindle has been moved, allowing safe positions to be defined and used for turret tool changes. View Control Options for Sync Manager Sync Manager View options in the right-click menu have been expanded to support Zoom Window, Unzoom 80%, and Dynamic Rotation. Mastercam X9 Mastercam 2017 128 ATTENTION! UPDATES MAY BE AVAILABLE. PLEASE REFER TO MASTERCAM.COM/SUPPORT FOR THE LATEST DOWNLOADS.
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